DETAILED ACTION
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 9-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was deemed to have made without traverse for failure to distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement as stated in the last office action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The phrase “less than about 30%” renders claim 3 indefinite because the term “less than” excludes the recited value (i.e. 30%) while “about” includes up to 10% of the recited value. Therefore, “less than about” renders the metes and bounds of the claim unascertainable.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
Claims 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by KIM et al (“Heterostructured Polymer-infiltrated nanoparticle films with cavities via capillary rise infiltration”, Adv. Mater. Interfaces 2021, 8, 2001421, Published online: December 23, 2020).1
Claim 1: Kim teaches a heterostructured polymer-infiltrated nanoparticles film (PINF) comprising two regions, first region comprising cavities defined by the interstitial spaces between template particles and second region comprising the template particles, wherein the interstitial spaces between the templated particles are filled by filler polymer. See Kim, page 2, Figure 1.
Claims 2-3: The average cross-sectional dimension of the cavities is greater than the average cross-sectional dimension of the template particles, and the average cross-sectional dimension of the template particles is less than about 30% of the average cross-sectional dimension of the cavities. See Kim, page 3, Figure 2.
Claim 4: The filler polymer comprises a thermoplastic, i.e. polystyrene (Kim, page 2, section 2.1.
Claim 5: Kim teaches the template particles comprising inorganic particles, i.e. SiO2 (Kim, page 2, section 2.1).
Claim 6: Kim teaches the second region defines a thickness in the range between 1 layer to 3 layers of template particles (Kim, page 2, Figure 2) which is well within the claimed range of 1-1000 layers.
Claim 7: The heterostructured film comprising a multiple sections of the two regions (Kim, page 5, second 2.5, first paragraph).
Claim 8: Kim teaches Bragg reflectors made with the heterostructured films (Kim, page 5, section 2.5).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments to claims 1-8 filed October 27, 2025 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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HOA (Holly) LE
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1788
/HOA (Holly) LE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1788
1 Provided by Applicant.